


Breaking my shell

by socopotactico



Category: Glee
Genre: Fluff, Klaine, Love, M/M, Met at work and feel in love, Romance, Songfic, Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 14:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19813987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socopotactico/pseuds/socopotactico
Summary: It just takes the right person to finally drop the act and let your true self shine. When you meet them, everything is possible.





	Breaking my shell

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by the incredible song “Don’t give up on me” from Andy Grammer, and is partially based on personal experience.

* * *

Whole story is in Kurt’s POV 

It really sucks to not be like everyone else. There is always one kid sitting in the sand making a sandcastle by themselves because none of the other children wants to play with them, that one teenager spending lunchtime, back against their locker listening to the same album over and over again because none of their classmates wants to talk to them, and let me tell you, it doesn’t get any better over time.

You just keep pretending you’re like every other kid and grow up to become an image of who they want you to be. You look at yourself in the mirror and see all the things you could do, but can’t. Because they wouldn’t approve of you you are, what you do and what you want to become.

If it wasn’t for them I might have been a signer like I wanted to as a kid. Music has always been what got me through everything. I would play any of my mom’s CD and sing until my throat was sore. I would lock myself in my room and dance until my dad opened the door and I had to go back to being who he wanted me to be. I’ve never let anyone see who I truly am behind that mask of insecurities I’ve built over time, being told, you can’t do that because you’re a boy. You should be doing football instead of dancing. I wish I could take off my mask for one moment so someone else would get a glance at what’s under it.

I am a dreamer, and getting caught up in my mind, not being able to tell the difference between reality and fiction, happened a lot.

“Newbie! Those shipments aren’t going to pack themselves!”

“Right.”

I wish I didn’t have to work at all. I miss the days I didn’t have bills to pay and could live off pocket money and birthday gifts. I would not have to work in this shit hole where no one even acknowledged my name. It’s been a whole week and they still call me a newbie. Like I don’t even have a name. I don’t know how to pack orders faster. Get a bag, place the box in it, print the tag and stick it on before placing it on the shelf so they can send them off, it’s easy they say. It’s not a hard job, I’ve been doing dishes at a restaurant for a while before getting here and it was harder than placing the right item on the right shelf, but maybe I would like it a little more if they didn’t spend the whole day telling me to hurry up. This job sounded fun until I learned my boss, Wyatt, is a total jackass.

“Newbie?!!”

“What, again?”

“The customers, you need to inform them of the promotions. Stop being so in your head! Get back to work!”

How do they expect me to pack shipments, clean il the shelves and welcome the customers. All at the same time? I am trying but... this just isn’t made for me.

“Listen newbie. I need to show the new kid around, keep an eye on the store for a minute will you?”

“Fine.”

As I hear my song playing on the radio I can’t help but get a little distracted. Anyway, no one is watching over me, I guess I can have a little fun. I know my boss might be near but if I don’t sing too loud he won’t hear a thing. Well, that was the best moment 4 minutes 11 seconds of this day. I’ve packed two orders while he was showing off the back-store to the new recruit. I haven’t met him yet but lord I pity him. I pity anyone who has to do this job actually.

“I’m going to smoke break. Kurt? Meet Blaine, you two can chit-chat while I’m out.”

He seemed as lost as I was walking into the huge store on my first day, looking down at his feet, trying to figure out what he’s doing here.

“How long you’ve been here?”

He ask breaking the ice.

“About a week.”

“Does it get any better?”

“Nope.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, at least I wasn’t the only one who noticed how horrible that job actually was.

“Is there anything that doesn’t suck around here?”

“When Wyatt isn’t there?”

I say gluing down the edges of the next package.

“Shhh. He might be near!”

He hit my shoulder.

“He is never. He manages this place but half of the time he’s out on smoke break.”

“So what do you do while he’s gone.”

He grabbed my hand, stopping me from doing my work, and I didn’t really mind. I guess I could take a break.

Well, I don’t have much of a choice to continue working but I sing a little sometimes.”

“You’re a singer?”

“No, I just wish I was.”

“You know that song?”

He said dragging me in the center of the store and he stopped talking to let me hear te music playing on the speaker.

“Yeah. “Don’t give up on me” I’ve had that stuck in my head before today while I was cleaning up the front table.”

“Alright then. Show me what you can do.”

“Ohh. No. I don’t really sing in front of people.”

“Hey, it’s just me. If you want, we can make a duet?”

He stars signing of the first notes part of the chorus and i couldn’t believe how beautiful his voice was. It was... unreal.

“ll reach my hands out in the dark and wait for yours to interlock ”

He kept looking into my eyes as he opened up his palm to grab my other hand and I placed my hand right into his.

I felt safe. I can do this.

“I'll wait for you

I'll wait for you”

It’s the first time I let someone see a little bit through my shell. I might have been foolish but I had a feeling I could trust him. No one was around, just him and I, he pushed away all the shoes from the table and pulled me up with him, standing there signing the chorus together like the rest of the world didn’t matter.

“Cause I'm not givin' up

I'm not givin' up, givin' up

No, not yet”

I could feel the smile forming on mylips and I couldn’t fight the real me coming through, I was dropping the act, and letting him see through me.

“Even when I'm down to my last breath

Even when they say there's nothin' left”

I looked across the street to see Wyatt coming back. God, what were we thinking of knocking over the shoes, it’s already bad enough I haven’t done any packing during the last minutes.

I get right off the table and start putting back everything where it was before. I give one last glimpse in his eyes as he whispers the last words to the song.

“So don't give up on me.”

He jumps off the table and help me get everything the way it was. When Wyatt walked in he could barely notice anything has been touched, he went straight up to the back of the store to hand us both a broom.

“I’ll do the packing my damn self if neither of you can. I want the hole store to shine when you’re done.”

“Alright.”

I said, for once I was actually glad he gave me this task. It was the best way to spend more time with Blaine. Even if that was while cleaning up the store, at least I’ll be with him. Maybe eventually he will be able to entirely crack my shell and I’ll be able to be myself around him. I really have high hopes for whatever we have.

He told me so much about him and I felt like it was ok to open up to him. I can really see myself in him, except he’s not afraid to actually show who he is. I wish I had that strength.

This afternoon, the shelves were the cleanest they’ve ever been. I may or may not have done the same spot three times just to stay with him longer. He may or may not have kidnapped my hole heart in less than an hour, and I am most certainly fine with that.

Any other day I would have been over the moon not having to work over the weekend, but now that I meet him, I could come in every day to look at him through racks of clothing.

That weekend I barely got out of bed. I’ve looked through ever FaceBook profiles including Blaine as first and even middle name. If at least I knew his last name, his social media or his number.

Sitting on my bed, scrolling through Netflix, trying to find something to watch but nothing could get him out of my mind. I changed my ringtone, and text tone to our song; Don’t give up on me, and every time I hear it, it reminds me of him. How could I have fallen in love so quickly? I didn’t even believe in love, if it wasn’t for him I’d still be opposed to the idea of letting myself fall for someone. I was pouring myself another glass of water when I heard from the kitchen the phone ringing. As soon as I got back to my room and saw a message, I didn’t care about those stupid rules of not answer quickly to make it seem like I’m independent and shit, it was too important to take the slightest risk.

Unknown number:

-Hi, it’s Blaine from work, I don’t know I gotten your number correctly, I might have secretly took it from Wyatt’s computer. I just wanted to know if you’re coming in on Monday? I really want to see you.

-Hi! Yes I’m coming in at 1, are you working on Monday too?

-Yeah, I know it’s dumb but I can’t wait to see you!

It’s not dumb. Not dumb at all. If there’s a dumb one that surely is me, head over heals in love with him after only a day. He just made me feel so safe I couldn’t help but want to see him again.

I kept sending him a few texts throughout the weekend, and it only made me want to see him more! That why I was so exited to go to work on Monday. I know this makes no sense at all but, with him, it doesn’t seem as bad. If being with him meant having to do half an hour of bus to go do a shitty job, I am fine with that. Walking into what used to be my worse nightmare, is now where I actually wanted to be.

As I walked through the heavy glass doors, the first thing I notice is him, dropping everything he was doing to run up to me.

“Kurt! Hi!”

He hugged me like we were old friends who haven’t seen each other in years. I don’t usually like to get close to people, but if it’s him... it’s not that bad. I don’t mind it, actually, I enjoy it. Who thought I would ever enjoy being hugged? Well, there’s no doubt in my mind anymore, I am in love with him.

“Hi Blaine, how was your weekend?”

I ask pulling away before Wyatt sees us and forbid us to even make eye contact, we never know with him.

“Pretty boring. I thought about you. Yours?”

“Same.”

Wyatt interrupted us as he yelled from the other end of the store.

“Blaine! Get back to work. Kurt I need you to help be in the back-store.”

I looked at him before walking away from him as he got back behind to counter, turning around one last time.

“Wait, Kurt?”

“Hmmm?”

I turned around

“Will you go out with me at the end of the day?”

“Blaine, I work until 9.”

“Me too, I don’t mind.”

I nodded my head in answer. Trying to hold myself back from jumping in front of the costumes.

“Alright. It’s a date”

He said before focusing back on working. Working, a thing I haven’t done much that day. Whenever we were left alone in the store, we would make silly faces to each other until thepeople shopping noticed us and we just started laughing.

When he left me the list of items for shipments, he left a little neon pink post-it he folded into a heart in between pages. Throughout the whole day, we exchanged the little post it back and forth, every time adding a little note on it. From my basic drawing skills to his surprisingly artistic ways to draw a heart, we couldn’t help but pass the post-it around until it almost landed in Wyatt’s hands, so we decided it’s better to stop and I kept the piece of paper in my pocket.

At one point he helped me lift a pile of shoeboxes,our hands touched and I felt goosebumps just from that. He asked me if I was cold and handed me out his jacket, I was not cold, but there was no way I could refuse wearing his drastically oversized jacket. I was so hot I could have melted but I would rather become a snowman in summer than take it off, it smelled like him and actually made me feel safer.

“Kurt. Blaine. I’m going out tonight so you two will be closing the store alone. You think you can handle that?”

“I think so.”

I was so hyped to have the store alone to ourselves.

At 9 pm sharp, every customer left the store, we were all done for the day. After closing the store doors, I looked behind me and he wasn’t there. He was right there just a second ago, replacing a table that’s been moved.

“Blaine?”

“Hold on. I’m almost done.”

I sat down a second and took out my phone to look for anything I could have missed during my shift. When I lifted up my head, he was standing in front of me, offering me his hand that I grabbed without hesitation. Through the speaker, I could hear the first song we ever sang together.

“Ever danced in the middle of a closed store?”

He asked spinning me around as I almost fell down but he was right there to catch me.

“No, I haven’t. Have you?”

“Not until today.”

He said pulling me closer to him, I could feel his breath on my cheeks and his hands on my hips. Realizing what was happening I just started laughing.

“Is there something funny?”

“I just cant believe I have finally met someone I can be myself with and who won’t judge me for it.”

As I said these words he squeezed my hand.

“And I can’t believe I met someone as awesome as you in such an awful place.”

As he closed his eyes and tilted his head, I took a deep breath reminding me what was actually happening. This is where I wanted to be, so I let it happen, I could feel his lips on mine and my heart almost jumped out of my chest. 

“I hope I’m not too bad, this might have been my first kiss...”

I said looking down, but he grabbed my arm and lifted up my chin.

“I don’t care about any of that. I only care about you, Kurt.”

I was blushing so much I almost turned into a damn tomato, but he didn’t mind, he seemed to be slowly turning into a tomato as well.

“So, what do you say we knock over these shoes and dance over that table?”

“I’m down for that.”

“Alright then.”

He grabbed a shoe and throwing it away.

“Blaine?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“For?”

He got closer to me, looking into my eyes.

“Letting me be myself.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me for that, Kurt.”

He said kissing my cheek.

“Come on now. We have the hole store to ourselves, let’s have a little dance off, shall we?”

He said getting over te table, looking down at me as I got up with me.

“We shall.”

I am thankful this table is made out of some strong material because we could have easily broken it, dancing around the store, signing a few lyrics from the songs we knew. Maybe I had a bad job... but after hours, maybe it wasn’t that bad. All I knew is I wish I could have stayed there with Blaine all night. But we eventually got back to his place where he gave me a blanket and let me sleep on his couch.

I couldn’t sleep. Looking up at the ceiling, playing the movie of tonight in my head, scared to forget about it. After what was approximately an hour of tossing and turning, I got up and headed to his bedroom.

“Blaine?”

I said and he looked up to me. He didn’t seem to be able to sleep either.

“I really can’t seem to fall asleep.”

I say, walking into the room.

“Me neither. Come on.”

He said pulling the blankets away to let me get under them next to him. He pulled them back over us, wrapping his arms around me.

“You’re safe with me.”

It was a matter of minutes before I drifted off into a deep sleep, laying in his arms, where I felt wanted, accepted and loved.


End file.
